Standard Lemma guide

megadeath

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɛɡədɛθ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmɛɡəˌdɛθ/
  • CMU ARPABET: M EH1 G AH0 D EH2 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: megacorpse

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The deaths of a very large number of people; a massacre, a slaughter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the death of a million people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they calibrate the effects of atom bombs in megadeaths

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: death, decease, expiry

History

Etymology

PIE word *méǵh2s From mega- (prefix meaning ‘one million; very large, great’) + death.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: megamort — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • Dutch: megadode — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • Finnish: miljoona kuollutta — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • German: Megatote — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • Portuguese: megamorte — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • Russian: мегасмерть (megasmertʹ) — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare
  • Spanish: megamuerte — one million deaths, especially as a unit of measure for estimating deaths due to nuclear warfare